Nothing Happened

by Molly Booth

Overview

IT'S MUCH ADO . . . ABOUT EVERYTHING.

This modern-day retelling of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing takes place at the idyllic Camp Dogberry, where sisters Bee and Hana Leonato have lived their whole lives. Their parents own the place, and every summer they look forward to leading little campers in crafts, swimming in the lake, playing capture the flag and Sproutball, and of course, throwing legendary counselor parties.

This year, the camp drama isn't just on the improv stage. Bee and longtime counselor Ben have a will-they-or-won't-they romance that's complicated by events that happened — or didn't happen — last summer. Meanwhile, Hana is falling hard for the kind but insecure Claudia, putting them both in the crosshairs of resident troublemaker John, who spreads a vicious rumor that could tear them apart.

As the counselors juggle their camp responsibilities with simmering drama that comes to a head at the Fourth of July sparkler party, they'll have to swallow their pride and find the courage to untangle the truth, whether it leads to heartbreak or happily ever after.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781484758427
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/14/2019
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.15(w) x 8.05(h) x 1.05(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Molly Booth is the author of Saving Hamlet and Nothing Happened and a total Shakespeare nerd. In high school, she was a stage manager for three different community theatres, which almost killed her. She graduated from Marlboro College and went on to study more Shakespeare (twist!) at University of Massachusetts Boston. Molly is a freelance writer and editor and has been published on TheMarySue.com, McSweeneys.net, HelloGiggles.com, and various other websites. She cohosts a Bard-centric podcast, Party Bard, and directs a lovely, hilarious, and fierce group of homeschooled teen Shakespearean actors. Molly lives in Massachusetts, where she spends a lot of time with family and friends, and the rest attending to her queenly cat and loaf-of-bread-shaped dog. You can visit her online (please do!) at mollybooth.com.

Editorial Reviews

"NOTHING HAPPENED is an unputdownable read that's both hilarious and heartfelt. Shakespeare fans will be delighted by Booth's clever reworking of Much Ado and those new to the bard will find themselves hooked. You'll never want summer at Camp Dogberry to end!"— Stephanie Kate Strohm, author of Prince in Disguise

"With its vibrant, diverse cast and respectful depiction of mental health issues, this playful adaption of Much Ado about Nothing isn't just for Shakespeare lovers."— Booklist

From the Publisher

2018-04-03
A retelling of Much Ado about Nothing set at a summer camp.Bee and Hana Leonato's parents run Camp Dogberry, and this summer the sisters and other returning counselors have come prepared for drama. Everybody seems to have a history with or crush on someone else, and Bee's and Hana's will-they-or-won't-they with counselors Ben and Claudia, respectively, are the subject of the other counselors' scheming and gossip. Donald and John (guess who they are avatars of!) cause trouble and get in everyone's way as the group of counselors try to trick the two couples into revealing their feelings for each other. Add to that Ben and Bee's memories of what may or may not have happened last summer, when Ben declared that he wouldn't be back next year. Through alternating perspectives, Booth (Saving Hamlet, 2016) constructs a comedy of errors enacted almost exclusively during noncamp events. Campers and traditional camp activities are side stories to the drama of being a counselor with an amount of freedom that stretches credibility. Bee is adopted from Ethiopia, while the other cast members are so vaguely described as to be assumed white. The concept of the novel is pitch-perfect; the execution is muddled, with no distinct character voices and a plot that is followable only if readers know the source material.Readers would be better served by a camp story not stuck in a self-imposed narrative chokehold. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews